


A Day at the Zoo

by Cyriusli



Category: One Piece
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Gen, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 19:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13219392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyriusli/pseuds/Cyriusli
Summary: Zoro and Law take Chopper to the see the new Arctic Exhibit at the local zoo.





	A Day at the Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the new Zolaw Discord group. This thing is so OOC, I don't even know how it got this way. The group was talking and laughing and the mood was awesome and light-hearted and I wanted to keep that in mind when I wrote this. I am aware of the OOC, and I do not care. This is just meant to be a feel good fic for the discord chat, but I hope everyone will enjoy a little bit of grossly fluffy zolaw!

Law had been good about it most of the day, but Zoro could see the excitement, even if he tried to hide it. Following along behind and carrying their backpack over one shoulder, Zoro watched Law and Chopper, holding hands, as they energetically moved from one zoo exhibit to the other. Chopper was constantly stopping, pointing and wanting to know more, leaving it up to Law and Zoro to read off the plaques the zoo had set up to teach people about the animals they were looking at. The Africa exhibit had been great, Chopper really enjoyed seeing the elephants, and he’d been absolutely amazed in the bird house when one of the workers came around with a huge parrot, even taking a moment to let Chopper pet it and for Law to grumble through getting a picture taken with it and Chopper.

Zoro had instantly made the picture of grumpy Law and excited Chopper with the bird his home screen on his phone, much to Law’s horror, but he was able to get revenge a few minutes later in the reptile house when Chopper demanded a picture with the python and Law had volunteered to take the picture, claiming that Chopper needed some father and son bonding over the giant snake. He wouldn’t say he was scared, but Zoro had been a little nervous about Chopper being near a snake that he was pretty sure could swallow him whole and was glad when they moved on.

The North American exhibit ended near a large open area with little food carts and a bathroom. Law snagged a bench and sat down, lifting Chopper up to sit next to him. “I need to use the bathroom,” Zoro leaned over Law, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You did well in the snake house.”

“It’s not that I don’t like snakes, Zoro, I just—”

“Don’t like snakes, I know.” Zoro stood and turned to Chopper. “Do you need to use the bathroom, Chopper?”

“No,” he shook his head, standing on the bench and half leaning on Law to look around the area. “I am hungry though.”

“I’ll get Chopper something to eat, you go to the bathroom.” Law pulled the backpack toward him and waved Zoro away.

Turning, Zoro headed to the bathroom, hating the line that was there waiting for him. He knew the zoo was going to be busy for a weekend day, but this just seemed crazy to him. It had to be the new Arctic exhibit, he was sure of it. It was the only reason that Law had even mentioned wanting to come to the zoo, even if he had tried to hide it.

Zoro had been a little shocked when Law mentioned taking Chopper to the zoo for their next small family trip. They didn’t go out often to large public places, Law’s phobia of germs and their mutual hatred of people usually limited family outings to the pool in the backyard. Zoro couldn’t argue Law’s want to go though, especially when Law tried to hide his excitement about the new Arctic exhibit behind his typical mask of indifference as he pointed to the pamphlet he’d brought home from work. Curled up on the couch, Zoro had put his arm around Law’s shoulders and tugged him a little closer as he listened to the other man prattle on about polar bears and arctic foxes and how the last time he’d been to a zoo it had been a disaster, but he’d been young, so he was sure it would go better this time around.

Wanting to continue with Law’s spur of the moment mindset, Zoro suggested the following morning and had been a little shocked when Law had actually grinned, looking at Zoro with his intense amber eyes and agreeing much quicker to the idea than he normally would have. They agreed to get up a little earlier than usual and try to get to the zoo as soon as possible so they could spend the whole day there. “Just to make sure Chopper has a chance to see all the animals,” Law had commented as they climbed into bed a little while later.

“Chopper, of course,” Zoro had agreed, smirking into Law’s neck as he shut the light off and they settled in to sleep for the night.

After finishing up in the bathroom and washing his hands, Zoro left the building, taking a moment to try and find his family in the crowd of people in the open area. He half expected to see Law backed into a corner threatening people or him handing out little bottles of hand sanitizer, but the sight that Zoro actually saw had him snorting back a laugh and chuckling as he walked across the concrete.

Law was standing in front of a balloon cart holding a clear balloon with a white leopard pattern spotted across it. Chopper was waiting patiently in front of Law for the man running the cart to finish his balloon hat, something that Zoro hoped matched the one that was sitting on Law’s head. Bright yellow balloons made into the shape of antlers sat perched on the top of Law’s hat and Zoro couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him as he slid up to Law and wrapped his arm around his lover’s waist. “The yellow looks good, Law.”

Law turned to face Zoro, his face completely neutral as Chopper was handed his own antler hat and a balloon that had zebra stripes on it. “It’s for the children, Zoro,” he started, voice a harsh whisper. “The  _ children.” _

Zoro raised an eyebrow as Chopper tugged on his arm. “Ya know what, Chopper,” Zoro started, stepping away from Law. “I think you guys need another photo together.” Law threw a glare at Zoro, but didn’t say anything. Instead he thrust his balloon at Zoro before bending to pick up Chopper so that Zoro could take the picture. Biting at his lip to try to not keep laughing, Zoro pulled out his phone, telling both Law and Chopper to smile. Chopper grinned, his whole face lighting up at the excitement of having the same matching hat as his father and Law glared, but Zoro could see the smallest hint of a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth when Chopper enthusiastically announced they matched.

Snapping the picture, Zoro thumbed to his galley and pulled up the image. Chopper was all smiles while Law was being grumpy and moody. “I think this should go on the mantle at home,” Zoro commented, twisting the phone to face Law as he stepped over, still holding Chopper. “A perfect father and son photo.”

“Would have been better if you were in it as well,” Law looked down at the phone, shifting how he was holding Chopper. “What do you think, Chopper, should we get Dad a set of antlers, too?”

“Yeah, Dad!” Chopper squirmed to get down and Law set him on the ground. Instantly, Chopper grabbed Zoro by the hand, tugging on his hand as he tried to get Zoro to walk over to the guy with the balloon cart.

“All right, all right.” Still chuckling, Zoro walked over to stand in line with Chopper for his own set of yellow antlers— and they had to be yellow, so they all matched— before they wandered away from the area, finally heading toward the new Arctic exhibit.

Next to him, Zoro could feel Law’s barely contained excitement as Law’s grip on his hand tightened with each step they took. He would keep talking to Chopper, who was now perched on Zoro’s shoulders, constantly turning the balloon antlers on his head, about what new animals they would learn about. Zoro could feel the static in his hair and would try to not jerk away when every so often Chopper would zap them both.

Zoro kept looking around, letting Law tug him along as they moved. Being on the far side of the large cat homes, Zoro stopped short when he saw one of the tigers sunning out in the grass. “Law,” he urged, tugging on his lover’s hand. “Look.” Law stepped back to stand next to Zoro, humming in question as Zoro nodded at the tiger. “That’s a beautiful tiger, Law.”

“Yes, it is,” Law agreed, ducking slightly to press a kiss near Zoro’s ear. “Reminds me of you.” Zoro knew what Law was trying to do, and Zoro felt the faintest zip down his spine, but the squeak of their balloon antlers rubbing together and Chopper’s bored sigh ruined the moment.

“We’ve already seen the tigers, Dad, I wanna see the polar bear! Papa!”

“Just a sec, Chopper.” Zoro wrapped his hand around Chopper’s ankle to keep him from kicking Zoro in the chest.

“Yes, all right,” Law reached up and took Chopper from Zoro’s shoulders. “We will continue. I’m sure Dad will be right along, won’t you, Zoro?”

“Yeah, sure, I just want to watch for a moment. I’ll be right there.” Zoro waved a hand. “You’re not going too far, right? Just to the polar bears. I will find you. How hard can it be?”

Zoro didn’t miss the annoyed huff from Law, but chose to ignore it as he turned back to the tiger. It was just laying there, eyes closed and enjoying the sun as it flicked the very end of its tail. Digging his phone from his pocket, Zoro tried to get a good picture, settling for one that was partly zoomed in and a little bit grainy looking, but still good enough for what he wanted.

Stuffing his phone back in his pocket, Zoro turned for the Arctic exhibit, just sort of walking idly along and enjoying the warmth of the sun, just like the tiger. He kept an eye out for yellow antlers and pretended he didn’t see the strange looks he was getting from other parents as he walked along. It wasn’t his fault they didn’t play along with the weird whims of their children. What was a little bit of embarrassment if it made great memories for Chopper? Besides, Zoro had proof of Law wearing them and he was never going to let him live that down.

Scanning the crowd for yellow antlers, Zoro didn’t see any and decided to find them as he went, pausing at the first exhibit within the area. People were crowded against the concrete fencing, looking through the taller fence to see the animal that was in there. It took Zoro a minute to get to the front to see what everyone was looking at, but as soon as he got close enough, his breath actually caught in his throat and he simply stared at the animal before him. He’d only ever seen a picture of a snow leopard once, one Law had shown him back when they had first starting dating, but it had been enough for Zoro to think of Law, and seeing one now, live and just feet from him, made warmth well in his chest. The snow leopard was beautiful and graceful, silent and shy, yet observant as it watched the crowd of people, just like Law was. He found himself looking around for Law for a moment before going back to the cat, watching intently as the animal walked around it’s home in the zoo.

Digging into his pocket again, Zoro tried to get a picture, but the cat wouldn’t stand still. Slightly frustrated, he decided on a video, hating that the noise and mindless clamber of voices around him would ruin such a moment. The only thing that would make it better was if Law and Chopper were there with him. He would just have to drag them back to see this guy once he’d found them and they had looked at all the other animals.

Satisfied with his short video and plan, Zoro moved on, looking at a map of the exhibit and locating the polar bear pen. It wasn’t too far from where he stood and as he drew closer, he was able to spot Law’s antlers sticking up over the crowd of people at the edge of the wall. Zoro walked over, watching Law with Chopper as he talked to the child, pointing and even laughing with him over something Chopper most likely said.

On the other side of the glass wall, a large white bear swam in the water, playing with what looked like a frozen pumpkin. Stepping up to Law, Zoro slipped his arms around the other man, rising up on his toes in order to rest his chin on Law’s shoulder. “Such a majestic creature.”

“Mm,” Law agreed, leaning back against Zoro a little and turning his head slightly. “They really are. I love polar bears.”

“I meant you,” Zoro murmured, pressing a kiss to Law’s neck.

“I still mean the bear, Zoro.”

“I’ll buy you one in the gift shop on the way home.” Zoro chuckled, tightening his grip around Law’s waist. Law had told him about a polar bear plushie that had been named Bepo he’d had when little. One that had been given to him by his stepfather before he was killed. At some point, Law had lost the bear, but he still talked about it from time to time.

“Can I have one, too, Dad?” Chopper twisted to look around Law’s head to Zoro, his antlers slipping down his forehead to just above his eyes.

Zoro moved so he was standing next to Law and reached up to  push the balloon back where it belonged on Chopper’s head. “Yes, I am sure we can get you a polar bear, as well. I would rather have a snow leopard though.”

“Did you see it,” Law asked, letting his indifference slip in his excitement. “We paused there, but Chopper really wanted to see the polar bear.”

“I did. I stopped and took a short video of it before coming here.” Zoro nodded, pulling his phone out to wave it in Law’s face. “I can take a picture of the polar bear, if you want.”

“Please, since I am holding Chopper, I haven’t been able to really take pictures.”

“What are you going to name your polar bear, Papa, I’m going to name mine Cotton Candy.”

“Cotton Candy, huh,” Zoro nodded absently, glad to see that Chopper was excited about the stuffed animal that waited in his future. Grinning, Zoro looked at Law. “Yeah, Papa, what  _ are _ you going to name your polar bear stuffie?”

“Bepo, naturally,” Law replied smugly, adjusting Chopper in his arms. “And what are you going to name your snow leopard,  _ Dad _ ?”

“Law, of course,” Zoro smirked as he took a picture of the polar bear in the water.

Chopper giggled. “You can’t name it that, Dad, that’s Papa’s name.”

“I can,” Zoro nodded at Chopper, scrubbing a hand through the kid’s hair. “Because it reminds me of him, so what better name?”

Law cleared his throat, cheeks tinted a shade of pink. “Shall we go see the caribou, Chopper? I read they have a whole herd of them. A small one, but still a herd.”

“Yeah!” Chopper pushed against Law’s chest to get down and Law set him back on the ground, taking his hand. “Let’s go see the car-en-boo. Care-i-bow?” Looking up to them both, Chopper scrunched his nose in confusion.

“Care-i-boo,” Law corrected, slowly saying the word so Chopper would understand and be able to pronounce it easily. Chopper easily parroted back the correct pronunciation as they started toward where the caribou were. Zoro watched on quietly, beyond happy at seeing Law and Chopper interacting. It always brought a swell of happiness that he could never fight off, not that Zoro really wanted to. He loved seeing the two of them do things together.

Upon arriving to the area, Zoro noticed that off to one side, in a small alcove was a couple staff members with two caribou and a third with a camera. There was a long line, but even from where they stood, Zoro was able to see the sign that said there was an oppurtunity to take pictures with the two caribou that stood there. Reaching out, Zoro tugged on Law’s shirt. “Wanna get a family photo?”

“What are you talking about?”

Zoro pointed, even as they walked away from the line toward the fence to see the animals in their pen. “I’m pretty sure we can get a picture with the caribou over there.”

“I wonder if we can wear our antlers,” Law peered over the heads of the people in the crowd in an attempt to get a better view of what really was beginning to look like a chance at taking a picture with the animals. “Chopper, does that sound like a good idea? Getting your picture taken with Dad, myself and the caribou?”

Chopper shrieked in childish joy, forgetting he was supposed to hold either Zoro or Law’s hand as he ran for the line. Zoro jumped after him, scooping him up and holding his son against his chest. “Easy, Chopper,” Zoro scolded. “What did we say about needing to hold hands?”

Law picked up Chopper’s balloon hat from where it had fallen off in the excitement, placing it back on top of Chopper’s head as Zoro set him back on the ground. “You need to be careful; you don’t want to startle the caribou.” Law looked over to Zoro as Chopper slipped his free hand into Law’s, staying silent in his pouting at being in trouble. “Maybe we should stand in line for the picture first?”

Zoro nodded in agreement as they moved toward where the end of the line was. “Probably a good idea given how excited Chopper is.” Chopper fidgeted as they stood waiting and Zoro could tell he was beginning to get tired. A long, though fun, day in the sun was draining and even Zoro could feel it now that they were standing still and idly waiting their turn to see the caribou. The good thing about the line, however, was that it seemed to wrap around the edge of the caribou exhibit and they were able to watch the herd. Law and Zoro would take turns either holding Chopper or taking pictures on their phones as they moved along, and Zoro even managed to convince Law to take a selfie with him, the herd of caribou a nice backdrop to Law being miserable in the photo.

By the time it was their turn to take a picture with the caribou, it was very clear to Zoro that it was time to head home. The longer they stood still, the crankier Chopper got. He really couldn’t blame the kid at all, but there also didn’t seem to be a need to make Chopper even more irritable by finishing the Arctic Exhibit when they knew they could come back.

With Law holding an envelope containing a single eight by ten photo of the three of them with the caribou— it was a great picture and Zoro and Law had already talked about moving around the pictures on the mantle to add that in— they made their way back through the zoo toward the gift shop and exit. Law seemed almost more delighted about getting a stuffed animal than Chopper was, but Zoro didn’t comment, letting Law think he was being subtle with his excitement. The gift shop wasn’t as packed as Zoro thought it would be and Law leaned over, rubbing a hand down Chopper’s back from where he was laying against Zoro’s shoulder. “Chopper, look, there is a whole wall of stuffed animals from the zoo.”

Twisting around, Chopper regained his previous eagerness, reaching out to Law. Law took him without hesitation and walked off toward the wall, leaving Zoro to follow along behind. It had happened a lot today, Chopper wanting to be with Law over him, but it was fine, Zoro didn’t mind all that much. Skirting around a table, Zoro noticed some blown glass figures, including ones of a polar bear, a snow leopard and a caribou. On what was most likely an impulsive decision, Zoro picked them up, carefully stacking their little boxes on top of one another as he made his way to the wall of stuffies.

Law was already holding a snow leopard, tucked under his arm by its tail as he and Chopper looked at the different polar bear plushies. Some were standing on all fours, others sitting back on their butts and up on a high shelf, Zoro could see a row of bears sitting and holding a pumpkin in their front feet. Chopper, and Law, Zoro knew, were both busy trying to decide which ones they wanted. “You know you want the one with the pumpkin,” Zoro joked as he bumped against Law’s shoulder.

“Hm,” Law turned to look at him as he set Chopper down so he could pick out a stuffed animal. “I don’t actually. The one I had when little was standing on all fours. I am just trying to decide if I want to get another like that or one sitting since it will fit better on the dresser.”

“You seriously think your bear is going to live on the dresser. Come on, Law, I know better.”

“Where else could it possibly go, Zoro?” Law looked at Zoro with complete bewilderment on his face and Zoro shook his head.

“We both know it’s going to end up in the bed with us. I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that I am going to be replaced with a stuffed animal when it comes to cuddling.” Law didn’t say anything, but his eyes went wide at the accusation, and he instead stepped forward to pluck one of the standing bears off the shelf as Chopper grabbed a caribou from a low shelf a few feet away.

“Can I have this one instead?” Holding it up in his hands toward Zoro, Chopper looked at Zoro from between the antlers of the stuffie.

“Yeah, if that’s what you want, sure, I don’t see why you can’t.” Zoro nodded. “I thought you wanted a polar bear though.”

“I like this one.” Hugging the toy to his chest, Chopper rocked back and forth on his feet.

“Let’s go home, Zoro,” Law placed a hand at the small of Zoro’s back, gently pushing him toward the register. Zoro didn’t argue and they paid for their things before making their way out to the car. Chopper insisted on holding his plushie and he was asleep in the backseat even before they left the zoo parking lot. Zoro, partly as a joke, and partly knowing Law was really wanting to, but trying to deny it, took the polar bear out of the shopping bag, setting it in Law’s lap as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Law threw him a glare, scoffing and reminding Zoro that if he was going to drive he needed to use the GPS. “I do not,” he grumbled, mentally thanking the stupid robotic voice for letting him know to take a right in about five hundred feet. In the passenger seat, Law made it a point to stare out the window, not even reacting to the stuffed polar bear that was perched across his thighs. Zoro settled into the silence of the drive home, stealing side long glances over at Law now and again, watching as he eventually wrapped his arm around the bear and pulled it against his stomach. He still refused to look at Zoro, eyes now closed as he rested in the passenger seat. Zoro knew Law was still awake, but he let him be, deciding to wait to give him shit about cuddling with the stuffed polar bear until they were home and in bed that night.


End file.
